According to Forbes.com, Dale Earnhardt Jr. pulled in a cool $35 million in 2008, or roughly $5 million more than Jeff Gordon, NASCAR's second-highest earner.
Forbes estimates that only between eight and 31 percent of a driver's earnings is a result of performance, i.e., wins ... which is a really good thing for Junior, since he's won three whole races in the last four years. And, really, the fact is the guy is a marketer's wet dream, seemingly able to say and do damn near anything he w ...

"Real" NASCAR fans swear that they love the sport in spite of the crashes, not because of them. Whatever.
There may be a measure of truth to that lie, but, well, crashes are cool. And really, since Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s death in 2001, NASCAR has made so many advances in safety -- to the point that no one racing at NASCAR's top level has died -- that even fearsome-looking crashes are more nuisance than cause for serious alarm.No, the possibility of dying can never be eliminated c ...